The focus is on Peyton Hillis again, but this time it's all about what he can do on the field and not the things that for the first three months made running with the ball secondary at Peyton Place.

Hillis will start against the Ravens on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. He is healthy and for the first time since mid-October has put in a full week of practice. He rushed for 65 yards on 19 carries against the Bengals after one day of team practice and at times looked like Hillis from 2010 -- lowering his shoulders and barreling through the defender in front of him.

"It will really help having Peyton here all week," quarterback Colt McCoy said. "Last week, he came in kind of toward the end. We really didn't know how much he was going to play."

Hillis spent five weeks recovering from a hamstring injury. A benefit from the time off, other than healing, is the storm clouds from early in the season blew over.

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The storm started with the first mention of his contract by team president Mike Holmgren in early September and grew when he did not play against the Dolphins because he had strep throat. When his agent came out and said he advised Hillis not to play against Miami, the storm turned into a hurricane.

Two weeks after the Dolphins game, he injured his hamstring running the ball in Oakland. Next, he skipped an obligation at a Halloween charity event and then he aggravated the hamstring injury at a Friday practice before the Browns played the Titans on Oct. 2.

It got to the point where team leaders called Hillis into a meeting. Exactly what went on at the meeting depends on who is telling the story.

"Teams work through things. Everybody does a very good job of finding out what happens, but there's a lot of things that happen nobody knows about beyond the team. That's just something that came to light, but we're moving forward. I hope all that's behind us."

Hillis spoke to reporters after practice and said his future is with the Browns. He hung his head when asked that question in October and said he thought he'd be somewhere else next season.

Hillis is in the final year of his contract. An extension is not resolved, but the issue doesn't seem to bother him anymore.

"My future is here," Hillis said. "We have five more games. I want to produce and help this team win. That's my sole focus.

"This is where I want to be. I love Cleveland. There have always been questions there. I'm having fun. I enjoy this place and I enjoy this team. I hope to be here."

Before he entered the media circle, he was ambushed by right tackle Tony Pashos. Pashos, a vocal supporter of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, plastered a Ron Paul bumper sticker on the T-shirt and Browns cap Hillis wore. Hillis walked up to the cameras and microphones wearing a wide smile to go with his campaign message.

Any chance the Browns have of upsetting the Ravens depends on Hillis breaking tackles and holding onto the football. He rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown against the Ravens in the third game of 2010. He was held to 35 yards on 12 carries by the Ravens in the 15th game while playing with broken ribs. The Ravens won both games.

On Thanksgiving, the Ravens held 49ers running back Frank Gore to 39 yards on 14 carries. Despite that bad day, Gore is sixth in the NFL with 909 yards rushing.

The Browns can expect the same swarming defense to go after Hillis. Hillis knows he will be a marked man from the start. Running back Montario Hardesty, a late scratch last week in Cincinnati, is hopeful he can play on Sunday.

"They're a good defense," Hillis said. "They're going to adjust well. They're big up front. Their front seven is great and you really have to prepare well for them."

Hillis has carried the ball 79 times for a meager 276 yards. He carried it 270 times last season while rushing for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns. Despite being in just five of the 11 games the Browns have played he still leads the team with two rushing touchdowns. Chris Ogbonnaya has the only other touchdowns the Browns scored on the ground.